Motion picture print film of the type shown in motion picture theaters is printed from negative film as a positive (print) which is tightly wound into a roll on a central core. These rolls usually are packaged in cardboard containers which are shipped to a film distributor. The roll is then wound onto a reel. A roll of film on a reel usually comprises around two thousand feet of film. Several reels of film then are placed in film shipping cases for delivery to theaters. A typical case of this nature holds one or more reels of film, usually three reels.
A feature motion picture film today usually averages around 10-12,000 or more feet of film, and therefore requires 5-7 reels of film for a feature motion picture. In the past, films were normally shown in segments from each reel, with each segment being thirty minutes or so in length. While one segment was being shown on one projector, the operator rewound the previously shown segment and then threaded the next segment into a second projector. With a system of this type, longer film segments were not generally practical, since each film reel needed to be manually loaded and unloaded from a projector. Since commercial film has considerable weight, it would have been difficult to load and unload larger reels of film.
Subsequently, an improved film transport system was developed wherein at least two horizontal platters were used with a motion picture projector and wherein the film rests in a horizontal coil on a first one of the platters, and with the film being unwound from the center of the coil and delivered to the projector. The second platter is provided with a ring, and the platter is rotated for winding the film from the projector about the ring. At the end of the particular film, the operating mode of the two platters is reversed, with the second platter becoming the supply platter and the first becoming the takeup.
Accordingly, today the two thousand foot reels of film are delivered to the theater, and they are spliced together to make up the 10-12,000 or so foot roll for projection. This is accomplished on the make-up platter in the theater projection room, an example system being a Strong Auto-Programming Platter System, and as described in their product information bulletin No. 3001. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,010,910 shows a similar film platter system for film make-up as well as film supply and take-up during projection.
Thus, the foregoing prior art process involves placing the usual 2,000-foot first reel of film onto a spindle of a make-up table (heads out; namely, the beginning of the film is on the outside), feeding that film to a first platter called a make-up platter of a conventional platter system of the nature previously described, followed by placing the second 2,000-foot reel on the spindle (heads out), splicing it to the first, which is now on the first platter, followed by placing the third reel on the spindle (heads out), splicing, and so on, until the full motion picture feature film is spliced together and on the first platter, usually comprising a 10-12,000 or so foot coil of film.
Once make-up is completed, the motion picture is projected by feeding the coil of film from the first platter through the motion picture projector onto a second platter. The next showing involves feeding the coil of film from the second platter through the projector to the first platter. An advantage of the platter system is that the full feature length film can all be spliced together for showing from one coil of film, and the film can be fed from the center end of the coil of film on a platter in showing the film. No rewinding is required between film showings.
After the last showing of the film, the break-down process involves feeding lengths of the film (tails first; namely, the end of the film is on the outside), usually 2,000-foot lengths, from a platter to a reel, and this continues until the several (e.g., 5-7) 2,000-foot lengths of film have been returned to the respective reels. The film is unspliced between the lengths of film. The several reels are placed in a film case or cases and are ready for shipment to the next theater. It would be desirable to minimize the handling and splicing of the large number of reels of film. Large reels of film, such as 6,000-foot reels, have been provided in the past but, unfortunately, they are very heavy and bulky and still require feeding the film from each reel on the spindle of the make-up table to a platter for make-up, and the reverse procedure for break down.